Without Kawhi Leonard the usually competitive San Antonio Spurs were no match for a Golden State team flexing four All-stars in the starting rotation and a cast full of specialists on both sides of the ball. Led by the masterful scoring prowess of Kevin Durant and Steph Curry, Golden State was able to complete a four-game Western Conference Finals sweep of the Spurs on Monday night by a score of 129-115.

Golden State advances to a third-straight NBA Finals and has nine days off before the start of the seven-game title hunt.

Depending on how long the Eastern Conference Finals runs, the fact that it is the Golden State Warriors who get to rest their combination of lethal weapons while the Cavs have to battle a rejuvenated, feisty and rambunctious Celtics squad with nothing to lose, could weigh heavily on the finals, once Cleveland gets there. LeBron James and Co. have been able to rest inbetween these quick series sweeps while their opponents have worn down under the pressure of long playoff series.

All Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich could do was give the Warriors their propers.

Meanwhile Golden State has certainly got to be the favorite entering these NBA Finals and as a franchise — regardless of the coach — they have been obliterating team records.

This playoffs, they became the first squad in NBA history to sweep 3 best-of-seven series and start the playoffs 12-0. Dub Nation has been toying with the rest of the league, sporting a 27-1 record over their last 28 games dating back to the regular season.

Monday night was no different. Pick your poison.

They are the first team to enter the NBA Finals with an undefeated playoff record since the 2001 Lakers and so far Golden State has the highest average margin of scoring in the history of the NBA playoffs.

JR Gamble joined The Shadow League in 2012. The Deputy Editor and Senior Writer is in his 23rd year of covering sports and culture professionally. He has covered a wide variety of major sports and entertainment topics across different mediums, including radio, magazines and national TV.

His passion is baseball, the culturing of baseball and preserving and documenting the historically-impactful accomplishments and contributions of African-Americans in baseball.